# OTC Tobacco



## MiamiMikePA (May 16, 2012)

I was very surprised when I discoved that many people on this forum smoke a good amount of the OTC tobacco. I think it came as a surprise to me because I am a premium cigar smoker and you never hear of cigar smokers smoking the OTC cigars. Just curious as to your motives for smoking the OTC tobacco. Do you...

A. Smoke it because its readily available and cheap.
B. Smoke it because its a good smoke for the money.
C. Smoke it because it's just plain out good and you really like it.
D. Other, please explaing.

Just want to say I'm not putting any of these tobaccos down. It's just that I've never tried any so I have no idea about them and it is just an unheard of scenario when it comes to cigar smoking.

Thanks
Mike


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## Fuzzy (Jun 19, 2011)

Walgreen's non aromatic Blenders Gold, at a buck an oz is OK. It does get better if put away for a long rest.

I have used it to add to other only average tobacco and jarred it for a year or two. I even think as a blending tobacco it has made my floor sweep mix decent.


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## MiamiMikePA (May 16, 2012)

Floor sweep mix? Is it safe to assume this is in reference to a bunch of different blends leftover and thrown together?


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## Fuzzy (Jun 19, 2011)

MiamiMikePA said:


> Floor sweep mix? Is it safe to assume this is in reference to a bunch of different blends leftover and thrown together?


Nothing is safe to assume :nono:

My floor sweep is really just what falls out of whatever package and pipe as I load it. Back in my heavy pipe smoking days I had a tin to put in my lap when ever I loaded a pipe. Being an old hippy, this tin some times did double duty as a seed separator 

What ever fell to the tin (not the seeds) was dumped into a mason jar. once full, I would give it a try. Sometimes it was surprisingly good. Sometimes, not so much.


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## mcgreggor57 (Nov 3, 2011)

I would also add that OTC provides instant gratification.


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## DanR (Nov 27, 2010)

The OTC tobaccos that I favor are not so OTC anymore. Stuff like Sugar Barrel and Walnut a just delightful at the right occasion. However, I also like Carter Hall very much and it's available at the grocery store.


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## gahdzila (Apr 29, 2010)

I originally came from premium cigars as well. You're right, you don't hear much about cigar guys smoking Swisher Sweets or other machine made stuff like that. However, I bet if you went to the cigar section of Puff right now, you'd find at least one thread on the first page about inexpensive bang-for-the-buck hand rolled cigars.

When I started trying OTC tobaccos, for me it was a quest to find something cheap to smoke while doing yard work or whatnot. But they've really grown on me! I smoke a LOT of Prince Albert, and recommend it to newbie pipe smokers as well because it's so well behaved and easy to smoke. Not to mention that it tastes great to me. I'm asking myself now if I would still smoke it if it cost the same as tin tobacco, say $4 or $5 an ounce...honestly, I think I still would! I also smoke 5 Brothers, a straight burley shag cut, dry and high in nicotine, perfect for blending with stuff that is wet and/or in need of a strength boost. Yes, I would still smoke 5 Brothers even if it cost as much as tin tobacco as well because there's truly nothing else quite like it that I've found.

I've also tried Carter Hall and Sugar Barrell...I wasn't terribly impressed with either, but I might give them another chance at some point. I have some Sir Walter Raleigh (tried and enjoyed) and SWR Aromatic (haven't tried yet) on order. Granger might be next on the list for me to try just because I like the package :mrgreen:


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## MiamiMikePA (May 16, 2012)

Coming from premium cigars to pipes the cost of pipe tobacco is really a non issue. Even the most expensive stuff doesn't touch what I was spending on cigars. For what I spent in 3-4 days smoking cigars I can buy great tobacco for 2 months!


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## DSturg369 (Apr 6, 2008)

A. Smoke it because its readily available and cheap.
B. Smoke it because its a good smoke for the money.
*C. Smoke it because it's just plain out good and you really like it.*
D. Other, please explaing.

I voted C - A & B are just a bonus for me.


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## houncer (Dec 15, 2011)

I am with Dale above! I really like Carter Hall. A lot. I just can't seem to get into Prince Albert no matter how much I try. Tastes too much like cigarettes to me.


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## loki993 (Sep 25, 2010)

houncer said:


> I am with Dale above! I really like Carter Hall. A lot. I just can't seem to get into Prince Albert no matter how much I try. Tastes too much like cigarettes to me.


Hmm probably not the best thing for a former cigarette smoker. I do need to grab a pouch of Carter Hall.


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## gahdzila (Apr 29, 2010)

houncer said:


> I just can't seem to get into Prince Albert no matter how much I try. Tastes too much like cigarettes to me.





loki993 said:


> Hmm probably not the best thing for a former cigarette smoker.


No offense to you, houncer, and I've heard others have that same impression, but I disagree. As a former cigarette smoker myself, I can comment. OTCs are burley blends. Cigarettes are burley...sort of. Cigarettes have so much other crap in them (nicotine soaked brown paper, for one. Nasty chemical additives, etc) that they don't taste anything like "real" burley pipe tobacco. That said, I can see/taste a vague resemblance. Burley has a dry nutty sort of flavor that is vaguely reminiscent of cigarettes...or what cigarettes would taste like if they were actually good LOL. Prince Albert has enough of a sweet topping that that is what I mostly taste when smoking it, though the burley flavor is there as well. Five Brothers is closer than the others since it doesn't have any added flavorings, but even it is miles from tasting like cigarettes, IMO.

Unless you're still actively fighting the cigarette addiction, loki, I think you're safe. I'm not ashamed to say that I still have a nicotine addiction, but after 3 years or so away from the nasty sticks, I have ZERO desire to smoke a cigarette.


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## houncer (Dec 15, 2011)

I've smoked two cigarettes in my life :dizzy: and both times I ended up sick. So, I don't have extensive experience with them but PA reminds me of that. Just don't like the stuff but it is clearly quite popular with many.


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## DanR (Nov 27, 2010)

loki993 said:


> Hmm probably not the best thing for a former cigarette smoker. I do need to grab a pouch of Carter Hall.


I personally like Carter Hall ten times better than the other OTCs, but everyone is different. I'd say give it a try!


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## Nachman (Oct 16, 2010)

When my stomach is queasy Carter Hall is a nice mild tobacco that settles it. When I take one of my runs at the Pearly Gates I smoke a lot of it.


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## Hambone1 (May 31, 2011)

Other for me. I am trying out OTC tobaccos as an attempt to say that I've tried them and to find out if I would want them on a regular basis. To be honest, when I first started out 20+ years ago I wasn't aware of the vast amount of pipe tobaccos and flavors there were for the pipe. All I knew were OTC blends. Since picking up the pipe again (over a year ago now) I've wanted to branch out and I have attempt to try B&M blends along with e-trader blends. I find the OTC blends to a mild smoke I can always count on with little nicotine hits.


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

I can't say I smoke OTCs that much any more, but when I do, you can bet it's because that's what I want to smoke. There's too many tins of tobacco already paid for in my apartment to worry about whether it's cheap or not. If it's time for Carter Hall, it's time for Carter Hall.

On the same subject but from the other direction, I know how you feel. I assumed when I picked up cigars that you guys were just snobs and a Havatampa Jewel would be as good a cigar as Carter Hall is pipe tobacco. What a mistake. And I bought a five pack. The real problem is I don't know four people I hate enough to dump these on.


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## laloin (Jun 29, 2010)

where the idea that PA tastes like cigs is beyond me. I enjoy PA when the mood strikes for something simple, and I happen to see a box at Wallyworld. I haven't tried the other OTC yet save for CBW which I didn't like at all. Soo I think I will order 2 oz of the other OTC just to say i tried them. Who knows I may found a new favorite hah
troy


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

Mike, I've been thinking about this one, and to me the cigar comparison for most of the OTCs is the oldtime geezer 'gars like the NC Punch, Romeo y Julietta, Hoyo de Montery and such. You know, maybe not the most exciting stuff out there, but perfectly acceptable.


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## Andrewdk (Feb 3, 2011)

I think the real difference between cheap/premium cigars and cheap/premium pipe baccy is 1-The price difference in dollar terms between cheap and premium baccy is not nearly as big as cigars, even though percentage wise some premium baccys are twice that of OTCs, 2-There isn't actually a lot fo bad pipe baccy around, there may be blends you don't like but it's not bad product. Meanwhile the cigar market being a lot bigger has a huge range in price and quality eg gas station cigarillos and HTF boutiques like skull & bones.

Baccy and cigars are just such different animals they can't really be compared and certainly plenty of misconceptions arise from the comparison.
Aussie OTCs are absolute junk I won't touch with a ten foot pole, I don't smoke too many US/UK OTCs as I have to pay pretty high shipping rates already. Hard to justify tobacco that costs less then the shipping fee, still I'm making an effort to try some cheaper varieties.


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## Mante (Dec 25, 2009)

No love for Erinmore Flake Andrew? I agree though as that is the only "OTC" we have here that I will buy. The rest is crap & by the time you add shipping & duty to imported tobacco we may as well buy the higher end ones. Hence my tobacco is basically all high end. :dunno:


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## Mante (Dec 25, 2009)

MarkC said:


> The real problem is I don't know four people I hate enough to dump these on.


May I suggest Kozzman, BunnoSaurusrex, KaChong & Gosh? LMAO. :mischief:


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## Andrewdk (Feb 3, 2011)

Erinmore is on my to try list, when it's $45 a tin I don't call it an OTC. Especially when it comes to duty you get charged the same whether it's floor sweepings or the holy grail of baccys, so might aswell get the good stuff.


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## Mante (Dec 25, 2009)

Andrewdk said:


> Erinmore is on my to try list, when it's $45 a tin I don't call it an OTC.


LOL. Yeah I see the point. Want some?


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## MiamiMikePA (May 16, 2012)

MarkC said:


> Mike, I've been thinking about this one, and to me the cigar comparison for most of the OTCs is the oldtime geezer 'gars like the NC Punch, Romeo y Julietta, Hoyo de Montery and such. You know, maybe not the most exciting stuff out there, but perfectly acceptable.


Mark, I completely understand where you are coming from! Based on the feedback from this thread it seems as though it is not fair to judge OTC pipe tobacco w/ OTC cigars. It seems like the majority of people smoking OTC pipe tobacco are smoking it because they really like it or are in the mood for that blend. As far as the comparison to the milder more readily available cigars comparison I totally get what you are trying to say. I use to rep Monte, RyJ, etc and while they aren't smokes I reach for they are for some people. Plus if you are into the mild conn wrapper cigars they are very good. Just different strokes for different folks!!!


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## WyoBob (Mar 6, 2007)

MiamiMikePA said:


> Coming from premium cigars to pipes the cost of pipe tobacco is really a non issue. Even the most expensive stuff doesn't touch what I was spending on cigars. For what I spent in 3-4 days smoking cigars I can buy great tobacco for 2 months!


I smoked cigars for 20 years and, at one time, had two, 120 quart Igloo coolers full of cigars. I've got around 15 cigars left and let my FAC buddies smoke them. I just don't care for cigars anymore and, in the last two years since taking up the pipe again, have smoked one cigar every month or so. The other day, I smoked little Nording torp and couldn't wait for it to get done so I could load my pipe. For what I spent in one year on cigars, I can buy over 8,000 bowls worth of pipe tobacco. My wife really likes my pipe smoking 

I smoke mainly LNF which, when bought in 24 oz. boxes, is equivalent in price to OTC's. I don't buy much OTC. I bought a can of SWR a couple of years ago for old times sake and bought some PA and Carter Hall a couple of years ago when I was on a 35 day well job in Montana and ran out of pipe tobacco. Still have some of the PA in a jar. I smoke the SWR and PA (and Balkans) for a change of pace from my va/vapers.

As you said, even high priced pipe tobacco is a bargain when compared to cigars.

WyoBob


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

I couldn't make myself hit any of the defaults, so I wound up with the "other" button. I smoke a lot of PA, because it's relatively neutral and has the easiest filling, lighting and smoking of any tobacco with which I'm familiar. It burns right to the bottom almost without effort, one of its finest characteristics. Carter Hall burns slightly wetter, perhaps because of more PG, and it seems to me that the end gets more "ashy" than PA. I've only recently discovered that Sir Walter Raleigh needs rubbing out, but it might rank right in there with PA after breaking it up. Need to open another jar...

Five Brothers is the perfect OTC for bringing flimsy aromatics or other OTCs up to a functional vitamin N content. Five Brothers also can make anything burn -- even flimsy, yucky aromatic OTCs. A useful tobacco incendiary additive dry, slightly re-hydrated it's great straight up in a cob. The relative unavailability of 5B forces us to define "OTC" more broadly, perhaps, so I'll offer: An OTC pipe tobacco is either currently available at local grocery and drug stores or was during the Golden Age of Pipe Smoking, roughly 1900 to 1980. (Edgeworth Ready Rubbed is an OTC, for example, but now exists only as a pricey item on ebay, neither easily available nor cheap.) I'd almost count those bulk Lane and Altadis blends one finds in the local B&M jars under catchy names as OTC, although you won't find them in a drug store. They almost deserve a separate category -- sorta like "SUV" as opposed to "truck".

There...my bowl of PA is at an end and so is this reply. Smoking a bowl of RY would be inappropriate here. p


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## fiddlegrin (Feb 8, 2009)

No comment for the topic at hand cause when I smoke a pipe I do blends from my local B+M.



Nachman said:


> .......... When I take one of my runs at the Pearly Gates I smoke a lot of it.


Wha-aaaa? :ask: 
I don't want to promote a "thread jack".... but I just gotta hear more about that! :lol:

Would you be willing to start a new thread about it and put a link to it in this thread?

Thanks a bunch :wave:


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## MiamiMikePA (May 16, 2012)

fiddlegrin said:


> No comment for the topic at hand cause when I smoke a pipe I do blends from my local B+M.
> 
> Wha-aaaa? :ask:
> I don't want to promote a "thread jack".... but I just gotta hear more about that! :lol:
> ...


Please feel free to thread jack...I want to hear more as well!!! lol


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## Ocotillo (May 24, 2012)

I gave the OTCs a try just because that is what my grandpa smoked and if it was good enough for him, then it is good enough for anyone. Turns out I can't develop a love for his favorite, Capt. Black White. However, I like PA, Sugar Barrel and CH, and sometimes when I'm in the right mood, SWR Aromatic. My go to daily driver is Smoker's Pride Black Cavendish, which is also the cheapest tobacco I have found. I guess I'm just lucky I like something that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. 

My father-in-law remains horrified that I smoke OTCs and aromatics and remains convinced that someday I will convert to blends with latakia. So far it ain't happening, although I have taken a shine to a few blends with that stuff in it, like Ruins of Isengarde.


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## InsidiousTact (Dec 3, 2010)

I, for the record, love half&half! I have to try to get it to bite, it goes down to the point where I'm sucking in ashes with one relight, and it's very tasty! A good driving blend to be sure.


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## mikebjrtx (May 21, 2012)

I like Carter Hall and pay more for per ounce at the grocery store than I pay for tins online.


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## mikebjrtx (May 21, 2012)

I have tried value priced alternates for high priced cigars. I wouldn't look for a low cost replacement for pipe tobacco. I might try alternates for blends you just can't get. The most expensive pipe tobaccos are still less than I pay for a cigar that I can enjoy.


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## Pandyboy (Mar 7, 2012)

I like a bit of St bruno both the flake and ready rubbed. Just kick back with some of it and life sure feels good!


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Pandyboy said:


> I like a bit of St bruno both the flake and ready rubbed. Just kick back with some of it and life sure feels good!


We pay $10K per gram for St. Bruno over here. Enjoy some for me! :lol: Somebody sent me some a while back, really good stuff! :tu (Can't remember where it came from -- Dan or Andrew, most likely.)


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## karatekyle (Nov 2, 2010)

I've realized lately I like PA a lot more than I thought. Good, no nonsense stuff. Stuff it in my 4 dot and just go!


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## DanR (Nov 27, 2010)

freestoke said:


> We pay $10K per gram for St. Bruno over here. Enjoy some for me! :lol: Somebody sent me some a while back, really good stuff! :tu (Can't remember where it came from -- Dan or Andrew, most likely.)


It had to have been Andrew. I've yet to start importing OTC tobaccos! :lol:

With all this talk of OTCs, my unopened tub of Walnut has started calling to me. I was waiting to finish this sugar barrel off before opening it, but I may not be able to resist the temptation much longer...


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

DanR said:


> It had to have been Andrew. I've yet to start importing OTC tobaccos! :lol:


It was Andrew. I have it here in the damage assessment reconnaissance report files. http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...7-more-problems-pennsylvania.html#post3529026 We seem to have lost Andrew to the Cigar Side again. :spy:

Gonna be a hottish one today, already 85 and humid, thunderstorms for this afternoon. Something light to follow that 5100, not that it wasn't light also. Hm...PA maybe!? :lol:


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